Reflections on living with and caring for animals

Sorting the cats out

27January 2017January 27, 2017

Now that I’m feeling like a human being again (thank you antibiotics and dark chocolate!) I’ve been busy trying to sort cat stuff out in the house. There have been many more cat fights in recent months, and also a lot more peeing outside the litter boxes. Favorite spots are the microwave and the coffee machine, which is completely unacceptable. I should invest in some of the kitchen disinfecting products…we’ve been using tons.

Some of this is, I think, the result of Thomas’s death a few months ago. (Thomas is the grey one being groomed by Gabi, our calico.)

Thomas was a very mellow cat, and the peace-keeper in the group. Loved by all the cats, he kept things on an even keel. He was Annie’s best bud – she was constantly at his side. With Thomas gone, the center kind of left the house, and the cats are still sorting themselves out. Annie is trying to convince Minh to be her new best bud, with some success. I came downstairs in the middle of the night last week to find the two of them sleeping together on a chair. Minh isn’t nearly as interested in Annie as Thomas was, but he’s doing his best to be supportive of her.

The peeing problem, however, needed some resolution. With seven cats in the house, you’re going to have some inappropriate peeing, but there is a limit. And the kitchen counters are certainly off-limits. But the first question with these problems is always whether there is a medical condition. I know Minh pees outside the box and hangs on the kitchen counters, so he (along with two other counter surfers) were on my list.

Got Minh off to the vet yesterday and they took a urine sample from him, and bingo! His white blood cell count was “too high to count” so he got a nice shot of Covenia, a two-week delayed release antibiotic. Paws crossed that helps solve part of the problem. And if it doesn’t, I have a plan B in mind.

But the cats weren’t done with adventures yet. I woke up and found a roundworm on the floor outside the bedroom. If you don’t know roundworms, they look like a piece of spaghetti. Hiro, our only indoor/outdoor guy probably picked it up outside, but if one cat has it, the rest do or will. So everyone needs to be treated. Hiro got some Drontal (pills) to swallow, which is not much of a problem with him. The others all got a dose of Revolution, which is not a problem for anyone but Annie.

Annie, as some of you know, is still pretty feral and touching her is not something she permits much. A few pets at feeding time is about it. Getting Revolution (a topical) on her was thought to be the most likely way to treat, but not easy by any means. I tried throwing a towel over her at mealtime, but missed., and the little bugger moves fast. After a couple frantic minutes, I gave up, not wanting to stress her unduly. Trust is a huge issue for her still, and I’m afraid of destroying the small amount I’ve built up with her.

Watching for my opportunity, I got her last night. She was up on the breakfast bar with some of the other cats (we do let them hang there…) and she had her back to me. I quickly squashed her down on the bar, called Marley to come fast, which he did, and we were able to get most of the Revolution on her without incident or harm. Phew. She’s a bit more wary of me now, but I’ll just have to double down on my efforts to tame her.

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9 thoughts on “Sorting the cats out”

Inappropriate peeing…the bane of all cat owners. I had issues with Jake as he aged (and with his diabetes). Even when he didn’t have a UTI, he didn’t like using a box that was soiled (soiled being one little lump of someone else’s pee). Hence the pee towels placed nearby to offer an alternative for him and easy clean up for me. He never pooped inappropriately. Cats can be weird. Hope you get to the bottom of it all. Jake was my last indoor-outdoor and I don’t miss that part. I still use flea treatment in the summer because they go into a screened porch but I don’t worry as much about big infestations or dead rodents in the house.

Yeah, I wish Hiro could live without going out but he can’t. He takes his frustration out on all the other cats. But even without that the cats have found two mice in the house (and killed them) recently. Doing their job!!